Amazon Kindle Fire

The Kindle Fire by Amazon is finally here and has raised a lot of anticipation in the process. So what makes it different than the other tablets? Kindle Fire uses a customized Android 2.3 with a pretty unique interface tied up to the Amazon’s Appstore which is limited to just 10,000 app titles. The compatibility between the true Android apps and the Kindle is rather questionable and is said to be partially compatible by the Amazon spokesperson. The video player that comes with the device is solely for Amazon purchases and doesn’t features any image gallery to display your favorite pictures.

The Kindle Fire carries a resolution of 1024×600 pixels with 169 ppi that places it at a similar level as Samsung Galaxy Tab I at 149 ppi and ahead of iPad 2 at 132 ppi. The quality of the LCD screen suffers considerably and after even having higher pixel density, the fonts looks much pixelated for a reading device. It also houses an 8GB of internal memory which seems rather low compared to the other tablets these days.

Kindle Fire comes with rather impressive integration with the storefronts that gives complete access to the vast Kindle books, apps, movies, TV shows that are visually appealing and can be considered as its unique selling proposition, differentiating it from the other Android devices. What makes this device interesting is its reasonable pricing at $199, that makes it very affordable and a good candidate for impulsive buying especially for families who wants to give a tablet to their children without paying handsomely for it. But mind it that this device is being promoted as a book reader primarily than an entertainment device, taking a significant shift in its consumer base. To wrap up, it seems fit to say that the Kindle Fire is not here to challenge any tablets in the market but rather increases its usability by targeting it to a totally different audience.